Microsoft Corp. is trying to kill the password and it's about time. This month, the company said the next test version of its stripped-down Windows 10 S operating system will strip out passwords too, by default. If you go through setup as recommended, you'll never get a password option. But killing the password altogether will take more work and time — and the problem may get worse before it gets better. That's a shame. Passwords are the bane of modern digital existence. Insecure passwords cause an estimated 80% of breaches, according to a 2017 report from Verizon.

Microsoft has been waging a war on passwords for a while. Like Apple, Google and others, it has poured effort into other types of authentication, such as biometric scans of your face or fingerprints. It introduced facial recognition unlocking for Windows PCs in 2015. It also has built a smartphone app to provide an ever-changing code to act as your password. "This relic from the early days of computing has long outlived its usefulness and certainly its ability to keep criminals at bay," an official blog post from Microsoft said in December.

This is an excellent deal for movie-goers -- but MoviePass pays theaters the full price of the tickets. If I subscribe for one month for $10 and see ten movies, MoviePass pays the theater $125 for those ten tickets and winds up losing $115. Yeah, I agree with this article: MoviePass can not, and will not, survive.

Unlimited movie theater deal could be too good to survive
MoviePass subscribers can see a movie a day for $10 a month.

President Trump last week approved a budget bill that gives $700 billion to the Pentagon for defense spending, an increase of $94 billion. Defense contractor General Dynamics, which manufactures ships, tanks, aircraft and missiles, will be a major beneficiary.

General Dynamics to buy government IT contractor CSRA for $6.8 billion

I am one of a dwindling number of people who shun e-books and prefer real books printed with real ink on real paper. I like going to book stores and browsing. I like buying new books to read. I do not like considering the possibility that someday there will be no more book stores.

Struggling retailer Barnes & Noble is laying off an unspecified number of cashiers and digital product associates, among other company employees, after sales sagged during the 2017 holiday shopping season. "Barnes & Noble has been reviewing all aspects of the business, including our labor model. Given our sales decline this holiday, we’re adjusting staffing so that it meets the needs of our existing business and our customers. As the business improves we’ll adjust accordingly. We want to assure our customers that this will not affect our commitment to customer service," a spokesperson said in a statement. Barnes & Noble's same-store sales sank 6.4% year-over-year to $953 million during the holiday season. Online sales fell 4.5% over the same period.

US gun manufacturers are seeing declining sales and declining profits in what is being called "the Trump slump." When a Democrat is President, gun sales rise amid fears that new gun-control laws will be enacted. When a Republican is President, there are no such fears -- Republicans are puppets of the NRA and never do anything to curb gun violence. After every mass shooting, their only response is to say, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims." And the number of "victims" continues to climb.

PepsiCo today reported flat revenue for the last few months of 2017 and said that it will cut some jobs while giving others bonuses of up to $1,000. The layoffs, which will affect its corporate employees, amounts to less than 1% of its more than 110,000 employees. Bonuses will go to those who make PepsiCo's snacks and drinks and those who deliver them.

KSL-Channel 5, an NBC affiliate in Salt Like City, is charging into the digital future by securing the local rights to livestream the games of Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake to viewers in the Salt Lake City area. The deal announced today is the first such agreement between a local elevision station and a pro sports team. Real Salt Lake's games are shown on Sinclair Broadcasting's KMYU-Channel 12. But KSL, owned by Bonneville International Corp., which itself is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pursued the streaming rights separately as it looks for local content to reach audiences who have migrated to digital devices.